to fish. they're going to join 54 tonight on "world news," crash. crash. longestens, the longest serving hisblican in senate history, is a planeose killed as a plane mountain in remote mountains. a former nasa chief and his son his se. survive. e trouble? takesd takes new action warning he recovery is slowing down. are we in danger of a second recession? plane fed up. that jetblue flight attendant who snapped becomes an instant internet folk hero. what does that say about flying these days? import. japanese import. meet the one-name rock star they call the bono of japan. e kills in tokyo, but how will he play in peoria? >> good evening.

they were nine people who knew they were n and loved the alaska wilderness, including a former senator and na-time head of nasa. but their plane built two years years alaska became a state was statech for the dangerous weather and unforgiving mountains. their crash touched off a desperate search through rock and brush. in the end, fivenon board died, including ted stevens, who served alaska in the senate for 40 years. among the survivors the former head of nasa, sean o'keefe. head of ane went down near dillingham. their plane and the survivors have been karlinsky. brought to anchorage, where we begin tonight with neal eporter: . was? >> reporter: george, there was a real sense of disbelief out ere. ted stevens was a legend in alaska. in main international airport right near here, in fact, is him.d for him. small plane small plane he was ast ast night, not much bigger than the one behind me here, behind meflew into terrible weather and crashed. this was this was the plane, seen here on an earlier flight, that was an taking former senator ted taki ted ns and the others on what was supposed to be a relaxing

was fishing trip near bristol bay. the plane had taken off at 2:00 p.m. for a 200-mile flight to the fishing lodge. but the plane flew into heavy rain.nd rain. air:30 p.m., a passing aircraft spotted wreckage and called for search teams. >> it's a mountainous area about 7 miles north of dillingham. about a 40 degree slope of the mountain itself. >> reporter: a private rescue team managed to reach the site ed toe nightfall. miraculously, they found survivors. but they spent the night on the mountain. weather was so bad, it would be a full 12 hours after the crash until the national guard could lower in a medical team by helicopter. it would be a and pulled four led four survi the wreckage and transported them back to them back . >> reporter: despite the big mountains and treacherous aska,er in alaska, tiny planes are an everyday means of transportation. are an may not be anes may not be as the-equipped, and the weather

can blow up immediately and give you all sorts of problems. >> senator is listed in fair condition. ed another plane cra stevens survived another plane crash in 1978 ter of 1978 that killed five people, including his first wife, ann. this evening, the state is this eveni ostrning those who lost their long-timepecially the long-time alnator who was their most loyal ender.ter and fiercest defender. >> as citizens of alaska, we have a long have a long road of grief to walk. > reporter: even now, we're told there is poor visibility and heavy rain at the scene of ae crash. the plane itself almost ertainly did not have a black black the survivors may be able to the tod some light as to exactly what happened, but for now, what happened, their exact conditions are nknown. george? neal,y, neal, thank you. ted stevens was a force in stevens was as we said, no republican served , no repub and he did so much for his state much for hisim alaskan of the century in 2000. ut that career ended amid endedtions of corruption.

gations of correars in the enate, ted stevens didn't hide his irascible side. sena >> no! his .o, i will not. >> reporter: and he never no, i will no apologized for using all that power he built up to enrich alaska. alaska. >> my motto has been here, to hell with politics. wst do what's right for alaska. >> reporter: a decorated veteran of world war ii, stevens flew steombat with the flying tigers. as a senator, few did more for their home states. their home fighthe toughest fights, stevens wore an incredible hulk necktie. in 2008, he narrowly lost t -election, just days after being convicted on federal convictharges. charges.sure every moment i spent here representing alaska. the land and the people that i love. love.porter: the conviction would later be tossed out, but by then, stevens was already back home. ted stevens was 86 years old. now, to the economy. and official confirmation of what so many americans are feeling every day. the federal reserve said that

the recovery is slowing down. and took action to pump it up, laying out a plan to put more money to work. the big question, will that be enough to prevent another recession? here's david muir. >> the fear is, what's going on in this economy? >> we are counting down the minutes until the release of the fed's statement. >> reporter: and when that statement came, the fed made it clear today, it is concerned about the slowing pace of recovery. >> today's statement was about a worried a statement i've seen since, well, we were back in recession. >> reporter: in it's statement, the fed said the rate of recovery is likely to be more modest than anticipated. and because of that, the fed is making two key moves, saying it will now take the proceeds from all of those mortgage bonds the government bought and now reinvest that money into government debt, treasury bonds. and that's important because treasury bonds are directly linked to the interest rates we all pay, driving them down on everything from your mortgage to auto loans to college loans. >> the hope is that it will help make it easier for banks to lend and consumers to borrow. >> reporter: in fact, the fed

also promised today to keep the interest rate right where it is, at 0 to .25% for an extended period, essentially promising those historically low rates will not go away. it's a swift change from earlier this year when the fed began to speak of an exit strategy, ways to slowly bring the rates back up. but there was no talk of that today. >> they would have to have blinders on not to do that. we know what's happened to employment in recent months, and we've seen a major slowdown in overall pace of the expansion. it's kind of like being stuck in a traffic jam. >> reporter: and to borrow her metaphor, the longer we're in that traffic jam, the greater the chance of a double-dip recession, say so many economists. and the fed clearly signaled today it plans to do everything, george, to avoid that. >> okay, david, thanks. and it was the economy that brought congress back to washington today. congress is rarely in session this late in august, but the house was voting, called back from their summer break by nancy pelosi, to pass legislation sending $26 billion to states. democrats argue that the money will fund jobs for 300,000 teachers and other public

service workers. but republicans called it another spending spree america can't afford. and while that vote was planned, something unexpected and extraordinary also happened on the house floor. new york democrat charlie rangel, facing 13 ethics charges, let loose, delivering a blistering 37-minute speech, saying he will not resign, and daring the ethics committee to take its best shot. >> i don't want anyone to feel embarrassed, awkward. hey, if i was you, i may want me to go away, too. i am not going away. i am here. are you going to expel me from this body? are you going to say that while there's no evidence that i took a nickel, asked for a nickel, that there's no sworn testimony, no conflict that i have to leave here? if it is the judgment of people here, for whatever reason, that i resign, then heck, have the ethics committee expedite this.

don't leave me swinging in the wind until november. for god sake, just don't believe that i don't have feelings, that i don't have pride, that -- that i do want the dignity that the president has said. if i can't get my dignity back here, then fire your best shot in getting rid of me through expulsion. >> amazing moment. let's bring in our washington editor rick klein. and rick, it was extraordinary, what we saw today. also something the democratic leaders and the white house just did not want to see. >> reporter: it was awful timing, george. it's exactly the scenario that so many democrats were hoping to avoid. several of them were urging the chairman not to go to the house floor today, to save further comments for the house ethics committee. and in fact, the irony is that rangel's comments were almost certainly counterproductive in his efforts to save his job.

a number of democrats i spoke to today said the overwhelming feeling on the house floor was that of sadness, mixed in with anger, that he would use a forum like this to issue a public defense. >> that's for sure, but one of the reasons he used that forum is because he has special protections on the house floor, unlike he would have in a press conference or if he spoke somewhere else. >> reporter: that's right. he said he wanted the chance to talk to his colleagues. the constitution carves out special protections for house and senate members that speak on the floor of congress. anything he said today can't be used against him. >> but it almost certainly means now that there will not be a deal, that this is going to trial. rick klein, thank you. medical news tonight. new research to alzheimer's disease is getting a lot of attention and raising hopes. a study out today says testing spinal fluid can be an accurate way of predicting who will get the disease. the test sounds promising. some experts are even calling it a breakthrough. so our dr. richard besser examines it for us. >> reporter: for many families, not knowing if a loved one is suffering is a painful struggle. >> i wanted someone to say, your mom has alzheimer's.

>> reporter: new hope may come from a spinal tap. research in today's archives of neuroroll. say proteins in spinal fluid may be successful in diagnosing alzheimer's in people with memory loss. >> we now have a way of accurately determining whether alzheimer's disease change is present in the brain of somebody complaining of memory impairment. makes our ability to diagnose the disease much improved. >> reporter: a normal brain contains about 100 billion nerve cells responsible for memories. in alzheimer's disease, the nerve cremes wither and die. abnormal proteins aqume nate and form plaques and tangles. when they look to see how accurate the proteins were at predicting illness, they found 90% of those with the disease had the disease pattern in spinal fluid. one day, a cure for the 5 million americans suffering from alzheimer's.

>> we now have a tool that allows us to identify the disease, years before dementia starts. and that's the stage of disease at which intervention should be effective. it's treating the alzheimer's disease process before there's irreversible damage to the brain. i think that's the key to bringing this epidemic of alzheimer's under control. >> reporter: it will still be a few years before the spinal fluid test is available in your doctor's office. for now, it's driving new research. i asked if we would see a cure or effective treatment in our lifetime. the answer i got, george -- absolutely. >> okay, well, that is hopeful news. rich, thank you. to find ten warning signs for alzheimer's, go to abcnews.com/worldnews. and still ahead on "world news," the enraged flight attendant who opened the chute and slid off his plane. is he a criminal or a hero? the hugely popular website accused of promoting sex trafficking. our reporter speaks to a former

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him over the edge. police say he broke the law and steve slater is sitting in jail tonight, unaware that he's become something of a folk hero. here's andrea canning. >> reporter: 24 hours after flowing his now infamous tarmac tantrum, steven slater was arraigned in a new york courtroom this morning, wearing a t-shirt, shorts and a smirk. does mr. slater admit that he snapped yesterday? >> i could never tell you what mr. slater tells me or doesn't tell me. but i found him to be personable and gentle. what's really going on here is airline civility is missing. >> reporter: slater told police he hit his breaking point when an unruly passenger trying to get her bag hit him in the head and different apologize. so he got on the intercom, started swearing, and had these parting words. "to those of you who have shown dignity and respect these past last 20 years, thanks for a great ride." >> the few of us that were still waiting to get off, i turned around and said, did this just happen? did he just swear at a passenger

on the intercom? that never happens. and i thought that was the end of it. >> reporter: until his triumphant exit, which can be heard on this airport radio traffic. >> we just had a slide deployment. the slide was intentionally deployed. >> reporter: slater activated the emergency inflatable chute and slid down to the tarmac -- but not before grabbing some beer and his bags. his mother blames the passenger. who she says left a bruise on his head. >> i think he just had a very small meltdown. and i think he deserved to be able to have that meltdown. nobody should be abusing anybody. and can i understand why he snapped. and i would have snapped, too. >> reporter: steven slater's attorney says when his client arrived to court this morning, after spending the night in jail, he had no idea what he'd gotten himself into. the flight attendant has now become an instant folk hero to anyone who's ever dreamed of quitting after a bad day at work. it's a dream we've seen again and again on tv. >> i'm gone. finished. over. i will never work for you again.

>> reporter: and in the movies. >> we'll see you all again. sleep tight. >> reporter: does he know he's become somewhat of a folk hero overnight? thousands of fans on facebook now. >> i don't think he's aware of anything. he's been isolated from any news. he didn't know about all the news coverage. >> reporter: still being held on $2,500 bail, slater now sits in a new york city prison barge. perhaps wishing he was back in the friendly skies. andrea canning, abc news, new york. and still ahead, one of the internet's most popular .ebsites. ha has it become a portal to prostitution? copd makes it hard for me to breathe.

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craigslist for turning a blind whoto postings on its site for to witutes. pid the ads feature a woman who says she was forced to work as a teenage sex slave by pimps who advertised her on craigslist. she spoke to david wright. ht.reporter: in the adult hection of the popular website craigslist, the world's oldest ession meetseets modern chnology.y. but are all these women consenting adults? anti-trafficking groups have published ads in "the washington post" and "the san francisco chronicle." post" and an open letter to the founder of craigslist, written by a young list, written a.k. was sold for sex by the hour at truck stops and cheap sex.ls. >> reporter: you were posted on craigslist? >> i was posted on craigslist. >> girl, if yad would say, sexy teen girl, if you want to have some fun, i appreciate 150 red oses per hour. >> reporter: a.k. told us pimps r from cr from city to city, pocketed all the money and punished her punished her if she ever tened ened to quit. you're 20 now. >> yes. es.reporter: how old when you

started? >> i was >> reporter: attorneys general from 39 states have been crnitoring craigslist for what they say is blatant prostitution. tituti nk in the same way we wayt sell crack cocaine over cocaine overe can't allow prostitution to happen over craigslist. tion to happen overis is david right from abc news. i'm trying to get ahold of craig newmark. we reached the founder of craigslist by telephone, who declined to comment. krargslist nse to a.k.'se to a.k.'s ad on if company blog insists craigslist is virtually alone among advertising venues in vigorously combatting exploitation and trafficking. dultcompany says it manually reviews every adult ad prior to fo posting it to prevent the site for being used for prostitution. and they've created special victims search interfaces for law enforcement. but the company also collects 10 to $15 for every adult ad, an estimated $36 million a year. david wright, abc news, washington.

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dan harris to hottest nttest new sensations. and he found a band that, in and he found a japan, is bigger than the heatles, the rolling stones and bruce springsteen combined. but will they make it in america? bruce dan says we're about to find out. >> reporter: you may not have out. >> reporter: you may not have out. have of yoshiki, but as we found out rather dramatically, he's a huge star in japan. have of yoshiki, but as we found out rather dramatically, even here in chicago, he was mobbed by japanese fans. he's been call he's been called the bono of he's been call he's been called the bono of japan. yoshiki is so big he has own branded visa card, his own branded visa ownlry line, his own race car team and he's the first person after him.ve a hello kitty doll team and he's the first person after him.ve a hello kitty doll named after him. now, almost 50 years after the british invasion of the beatles, yoshiki and his band, called x-japan, are mounting a japanese invasion. why do you want to come to the

u.s.? japan, are mountin >> reporter: there's hasn't been to my knowledge, a big asian act that has really broken through t tohe u.s. do you think x can do it? >> i think so. to my knowledg x can do ite don't have confidence, we are not here. d, yoshikir: as a child, yoshiki studied classical piano, al lusively, until he discovered studied classical piano, al lusively, until he discovered american heavy metal. >> when i was 10, i found kiss. i sa ons, , like, gene simmons, like, just the face with the blood ons, , like, gene simmons, like, just the face with the blood and, what is that? i want it. >> reporter: did it blow your mind? >> rep our es. reporter: even ththough yoshiki e plays he singer, he plays drums, piano and writes all the he has becos become the face of the band. the band. there was a studio in los angeles that you wanted to record in -- >> was booked for a year. atallica was recording. >> reporter: so you just bought atallica was recording. >> reporter: so you just bought it? >> yes. >> yes. >> reporter: this past weekend, n played their fheir first big american gig at lollapalooza

in chicago. they're launching a full tour this fall and releasing their first album here, with songs in english. if it works, scenes like this may be playing out more often here in america. dan harris, abc news, chicago. first.heard him here first. that is "world news" for this uesday. i'm george stephanopoulos. tuesda sawyer andawyer and all of us at abc news, have a great night. at i'll see you tomorrow on "gma." $45,000 to replace this bench. tonight blowing the whistle on excess tiffive spending in california court system. >> fatal dog mauling of a 2-year-old boy triggers new debate. should pit bulls being single out? >> 100 soldiers frurn a tour

of duty in iraq. their role in bringing stability to the middle east. >> and a controversial treatment to stop a crippling disease. >> we begin tonight with charges of questionable and extravagant spending. >> the charges come from a group of judges who agreed this spending is out of control. >> abc 7 is here now with a story you'll see on 7. >> these are serious charges made by a former senior staffor who worked in offices of the judicial counsel, the body controlling the multi billion dollar budget for the state skorts and spoke to abc 7 news. he says there is a lack after ktibility in the way they spend taxpayer money. state judicial administrators